tomtom on the Pc

[(RIP) Perryhill]

As I've been using both Garmin units and Tomtom GPS software on a PDA for some years, I can't understand why you can't plan things on the PC with TomTom like you can with Garmin. does anyone know of a way to access TomTom on the Pc and then download to a PDA.
And, whilst I'm at it, why does Microsoft not make a useable version of Autoroute for a PDA or do they? ​

 

[ballistic]

As I've been using both Garmin units and Tomtom GPS software on a PDA for some years, I can't understand why you can't plan things on the PC with TomTom like you can with Garmin. does anyone know of a way to access TomTom on the Pc and then download to a PDA.
And, whilst I'm at it, why does Microsoft not make a useable version of Autoroute for a PDA or do they? ​

I think 'Pocket Routes', or something similar, is included on the CD especially for 'PDAs... I seem to remember it being available for installation when I installed AutoRoute.

 

[Muppet]

There is no facility to do anything on a PC related to Tom Tom, but Autoroute has a thing called Pocket Streets which loads a single map of your choice but nothing you can use with Tom Tom.

 

[HMR]

There is no facility to do anything on a PC related to Tom Tom

Well, there is actually. Garmin MapSource, Fugawi, Touratech QV and others.

Ask a friend with a Garmin GPS to install his MapSource on your PC. Then use MapSource to create routes. The routes should have less than 50 waypoints each and the waypoints should be named as a consecutive number serie. 004, 008, 009, 221, 275, etc.

Export the route from MapSource in GPX format.

Use PoiEdit from www.poiedit.com to covert the GPX file to a TomTom Waypoint file. Import this file to your GPS. Done! (if the TomTom is able to import anything at all that is...)

A better solution is of course to junk the TomTom and buy a Garmin.....

 

[Muppet]

Well, there is actually. Garmin MapSource, Fugawi, Touratech QV and others.

Ask a friend with a Garmin GPS to install his MapSource on your PC. Then use MapSource to create routes. The routes should have less than 50 waypoints each and the waypoints should be named as a consecutive number serie. 004, 008, 009, 221, 275, etc.

Export the route from MapSource in GPX format.

Use PoiEdit from www.poiedit.com to covert the GPX file to a TomTom Waypoint file. Import this file to your GPS. Done! (if the TomTom is able to import anything at all that is...)

A better solution is of course to junk the TomTom and buy a Garmin.....

I've got a simialr programme called POI Converter but I didn't tell him about it because I've found it rather unreliable. You still have to check each individual waypoint very carefully on your Tom Tom screen (PDA etc.) to make sure it's exactly where you want it.

Tom Tom isn't very clever with waypoints, unless you ride through exactly the road where the waypoint is positioned it won't cancel it out as having been visited. This can be a real pain when you've put the point 20 metres off the road or a little way on a side street as it'll just keep telling you to turn around until your ride through it. Garmin at least will let you get to within about a hundred metres (I think) and assume you've been there so mark it as visited.

IMHO, Tom Tom is great and easy to use as a 'get you to a destination' GPS system. I use it in the car for work as I travel all over the country, with full 7 digit postcode it's much better than the 2610 I have (yes, I know the 27** series has postcodes, I can't afford one ), but as you say, Garmin for constructing routes where you want to go is much better. I wouldn't be without mine on the bike, but I don't use it in the car.

 

[Der Lustenauer]

As I've been using both Garmin units and Tomtom GPS software on a PDA for some years, I can't understand why you can't plan things on the PC with TomTom like you can with Garmin. does anyone know of a way to access TomTom on the Pc and then download to a PDA.
And, whilst I'm at it, why does Microsoft not make a useable version of Autoroute for a PDA or do they? ​

There is a German routing software called 'Motorrad Tourenplaner' which uses NavTec maps.
Link here
http://www.scw-webshop24.de/Webshop...pchen&bestnr=042180000172&detail=1&gpherk=501
It can export waypoints to Pocket PC, TomTom Navigator 5, TomTom Rider, Navigon Mobile Navigator 5 and to MapSource or Garmin GPSR's.

It is made especially for bikers and I use it for planing rides on the continent. It has several nice features which I would like to have in MapSource as well.
For example one gets a detailed height profile of the route (using NavTec height data), additionally to choosing minor and major roads one gets a scenic route option slider (thats the green highlighted roads on paper maps and in the maps of this 'Tourenplaner'), a nice round tour function and quite a lot more.

As a Garmin Quest1 and MapSource user I got fed up with having to force MapSource over mountain passes in the alps (to dangerous). I am using this 'Tourenplaner' now and it even opens MapSource for me with the finished route, ready to send to the Quest. And sending the waypoints (which the 'Tourenplaner' creates for me) directly to the Quest is no problem either and works great. From German user forums I hear that it is the same with exporting to Navigon or TomTom.

The downside for you might be that the 'Tourenplaner's' interface is in German and that England is not covered in its maps, but for touring on the continent there is nothing better, no matter if you got a Garmin, TomTom or whatever (and after all, it is only a few words to translate and write down or memorise to make use of the program).

Additionally you might want to look at the Pathaway software from TouraTech for Pocket Pc's.

I am actually looking forward to the times when GPSR's are sold without maps and without Routing Software, giving me the choice, which maps and which software to use with whatever kind of device I own at the time, be it Mobile Phone, PDA, full blown Personal Computer or whatever kind or make of GPS Receiver.

And without any experience so far with it, I dare say that the TOURATECH QV is the only software so far trying to achieve that, no matter what kind of map one is using or to what purpose.


To HMR
'A better solution is of course to junk the TomTom and buy a Garmin.....'

Dont't you think you should include that Rugged PDA N560 (C) http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87013 from Andres Industries there? I certainly would. It is in my opinion a big step forward to break the monopoly of manufacturers of bundled GPSR's, software and maps (one can at the very least choose between TomTom and Navigon, if not more), enabling me to buy some hardware and then to choose which kind of software I want to run on it, and change the software, if I am not satisfied with it, still using the same GPS'r, or the other way around, keep the software (route planning and maps) and change the GPS'r, because of whatever kind of hardware improvement has taken my fancy.

When one is looking back on the history of IT, one can see, that in the end, open standards, and a clear separation between software and hardware producers always have the edge (for the company and for the consumer). Monopoly and closed shop never does. After all, the 'Motorrad Tourenplaner' manages with selling its routing software with the NavTec maps, with the height data, with the flags for the scenic roads (and integrating those features in there routing software, and that for the small German market only), for a 40 Euro (around 30 Quid). Makes me think.................. and wish.